Background of project Problem Statement

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1.1 Background of project

The plastics and plastics products industry is one of the most dynamic and vibrant growth sectors within the Malaysian manufacturing sector. The Malaysian plastics industry has developed into a highly diversified sector producing an array of products including automotive components, electrical and electronic parts, construction materials, household goods, bottles, containers, toys, games and packaging materials. One of the plastic application is in the constructing of a structural support mat for load. The process that involves in the production of hollow structure mat is the sintering process. The sintering process is conducted in the large sintering chamber. Therefore, a special jig and clamping mechanism are needed in order to hold and press the customized plastic in the sintering chamber. The main function of jig is to hold, locate and support the workpiece for the various types of machining. A jigs primary purpose is to provide repeatability, accuracy, and interchangeability in the manufacturing of products. Usually, the jig is used for the operation of small parts. The special jig is needed to hold and press the plastic due to the large dimension of the product. The sintering process will be done by Department of Civil Engineering at the University Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia. INTRODUCTION CHAPTER 1 2 After the plastic is sintered, it must be cut into various sizes for the structural support platform. Usually, a plastic is cut by using laser cutting machine, however, it is only ideals for the thin part dimension because the thickness of material can affect the cutting quality. The vertical bandsaw machine is the most suitable machine to cut the large dimension of plastic with the minimum cost required.

1.2 Problem Statement

The hollow structure mat is produced by using a plastic. The material of the plastic comes in a tubular shape with a length of 1 meter, which will be sintered to create a dimension of 1m x 1m x 1m as shown in Figure 1.1. The structured of the hollow structure mat is honeycomb structure. In order to have a good joining between each plastic, it must be press uniformly during the sintering process. Therefore, a special jig and clamping mechanism are needed to hold and press the plastic to produce a structural mat. Figure 1.1: Illustration of Hollow Structure Mat Occasionally, the structural support material is produced from the customized plastic, it is considered as a soft material and common techniques to cut this material is by using a vertical bandsaw machine. However, most commercial vertical bandsaw machine is too small and it is not suitable for cutting big material. Generally, machine operator loads the workpiece towards the cutting blade by using their hands and it is difficult to load a large size of workpiece. To load this plastic with a size of 1m x 1m x 1m, it will use a lot of energy and must be done at least by two people. To cut this hollow structure mat with a good surface finish, the machine has to be customized. 3

1.3 Objectives